hanging out in a coffee shop

Ah the coffee shop. Before college I hadn't experienced the wonderful environment of the coffee shop (I also didn't like coffee, so that's part of it). Once in college, I discovered how much work I could get done if I left the house, and I've been going to coffee ever since.

Oddly, I haven't spent much time working in coffee shops on my thesis. Somehow it didn't seem serious enough. But, that was a mistake. I've been here since about 9:45 this morning and have had the most productive hour plus in a LONG time. Hooray for coffee!

Why is it better here? I think there are a couple reasons.

1. a new environment. There's no cat, tv, husband, or other familiar distractions.
   
2. internet. At the coffee shop next to my house, you need a password to get online. I didn't get the password from the baristas until AFTER I worked for a good hour. (yay me!)
3. tuning out. One of the BEST traits I inherited from my dad is my ability to tune things out. (just ask my mom!). If I can get engrossed in something, then the rest of the world disappears entirely. So much so that I don't hear the people next to me talking, I don't notice the people walking by, and when I was a kid- I wouldn't hear Mom calling me for dinner (when I was on the couch in the living room!). But it takes me a little while to get into this zone. I've been having a hard time finding this place recently (I've read that perhaps part of what I'm doing is self-hypnosis, interesting, huh). Today- no problem.

So, I'm feeling good! Now back to work for another 30 minutes or so and then on to the rest of the day.

sick and tired of being sick and tired

The two of us have been cycling through some weird flu/cold/sinus things the past three or four weeks. I think the mix of Kimberly working in a public office and a few of my co-workers bringing in their children's pre-school diseases is the cause of all this coughing and phlegm expectorating. Its really exhausting being sick and tired, especially when you have stuff to do.
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A random thought: if you're looking for something good to listen to, there's KEXP in Seattle. It's pretty much the best radio station ever, and they broadcast over the internets. They're having a pledge drive this week (it's a non-commercial, non-NPR, non-college station), so it's not the best time to listen right now, but usually they play a pretty killer mix of music.
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On another note: we got the clutch in our car fixed. This makes me happy, since (1) we didn't need a new clutch, just an adjustment, so it didn't cost an arm and a leg; (2) it's easier to drive the car now; and (3) it doesn't squeak anymore. I know you car about this stuff, that's why I'm telling you.
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On one last note: my new favorite word is feckless.

Food Funk

So things have been pretty 'eh' around here the last couple weeks. Working and studying and canceling cable and bringing the car to the shop and climbing onto rooftops and yada yada yada. Even Idol, which I have watched only sparingly the past couple nights during commercials of the Blazer games, seems boring and repetitive (except for Lakisha who performed at the end last night; she brought it, dog).

All this boredom has manifested itself in our lack of dinner and food ideas. We went for Indian last night, and it was great, but it took us the better part of the afternoon to decide on it. Tonight? Who knows? Maybe a rotisserie chicken with a slab of bread and mac & cheese. Maybe salad. Not exactly salivating at the thought of either of those.

We've hit a food rut, where nothing seems exciting and it's become a chore to even think about. Who knew that not having the downtown farmer's market, with its ever changing selection of tasty foods to inspire, would affect us this much? It doesn't give me much hope for the Middle (I hope I am greatly mis-underestimating the gastronomic choices of the american heartland, although the abundance of Irish-Mexican restaurants in our future home doesn't inspire confidence; um. you ever go to Jose McIntyre's? Not good).

So if there's anyone out there who happens to be reading this, give us some ideas. Down there in the comments tell us "What you've been eating lately?" Exotic? Boring? 5 hours of prep? It don't matter, throw us a bone.

home renovation

So Peter and I have spent the last year or so learning all about home renovation. No, you didn't miss a major news story, we don't actually OWN a house. But, magically, this hasn't stopped our learning curve.

I had always figured that Dad would teach us about about home remodeling once we owned a house. Kinda like my cousin and uncle- I figured that Dad would come visit for weekends and show us how to install toilets, paint (correctly), hang dry wall... all those sorts of "Dad" things. It's one of the things that never happened that I'm realizing how much I miss.

And, actually, in an odd way, Dad's still helping us learn many of these things.

Last winter, before we knew he was sick, Dad hung drywall in the new half bath at the house my folks are* renovating at the coast. I got to be in charge of the mudding. If you haven't done this before- you have NO idea how much fun it is!! [Oh, right, that was my memory from the time before when Dad hung drywall, I was 12, and Sis and I got to make "pottery" out of the extra mud. I'm sure Mom has a great picture somewhere.] ** So, anyway, in the adult world, mudding involves carefully applying goo (note technical vocabulary) to the junctures of the drywall. I got a lesson from Dad and was set to work. I even was commended for my good work! Hooray.

Since he died, though, we've been left to teach ourselves tasks that Dad should have been in charge of. Ripping out carpet and vinyl, removing doors, taking off baseboard trim... I'm sure that there are correct ways to do each of these. I don't have the foggiest idea what the correct way is, however, because the work crew of me, Mom, Sis, and Peter just made stuff up.

Combine this with our dear landlord who has taken us under his wing and insists on showing one of us how to do each repair task we call him about (Kimberly: changing water heater Peter: fixing clogged drain, changing light fixture, trying to electrocute yourself) and you have an interesting mix of experiences.

So, although we may be years away from actual home ownership, and even then we may be priced out the market (at least in Portland what with the booming sale prices and the university's pay scale being the lowest 10% in the NATION), we are learning the ins and outs.

Interested in seeing the progress of the beach house? Sis has some flickr pictures here.




*yes, I know my verb tenses are all mixed up, but for now, that's just the way it is.

** and, yes, I know I'm rambling... but hey, it's a blog, right?

Installation Art

We were in Seattle this past weekend, and we happened to go to the new SAM Olympic Sculpture Park along the Puget Sound. There are some more pictures on Flickr: you can either view here or over there on the sidebar -->

Also, our friend Seth bought an organ.

I'm not sure which event was cooler.

Fun with Cats

As mentioned before, here and here, we have a lovely cat Miles. Miles is pretty special (in the good way). This isn't me being blinded with love- EVERYONE who meets him seems to fall instantly in love. From the cousins during his first weekend at our house, to Peter's boss' son, my Mom, Grandmama, even our landlord who isn't crazy about cats likes Miles.

The thing is... we're beginning to wonder whether his niceness is all an act.

You see, we adopted dear Miles from the Oregon Humane Society. His papers from there state that he was in his first home for about a year, then in his second for about 2 before they dropped him off at the shelter. Reason for getting rid of him "he's boring." Yep, you read that right, he's a cat and yet they were upset that he "slept too much."

So we met him at the shelter, the people brought him to us in our little waiting room and he proceeded to rub our legs then jump up on the bench between us, purr and drool a bit on Peter's knee. Needless to say, we were smitten.

And we've been in love ever since.

However.
Miles has decided on a new line of behavior that's causing some issues. He likes to wake up at 5 am. Me- I don't really like to wake up at all, but if I have to, particularly NOT at 5. Now, if he just got up and went about his business, that'd be fine. Instead, he sharpens his little declawed paws on the laundry basket, attacks feet, licks my books (his fascination for paper is a different tale for another time), bangs his head against Peter, and cries the wail of the unloved.

Possible reasons for cat distress
1. hungry
2. litter box full
3. thirsty
4. bored?

Cat has food, water, clean box, and toys scattered throughout the house. Yet, he just wants us to be awake with him! So much love, so much togetherness, so clingy.

So we're beginning to wonder... did those people who gave him away lie on the intake form? Was he really just crazy clingy and it took 2 years for them to see it (as it's taken us 7 months?) Maybe they just put "boring" on his form to try to lure another family into adopting him?

well... we got him, now we have to figure out how not to strangle him!

Super Sunday Spectacular

I haven't really been to a good Super Bowl party since I left Boston and the annual Snyder Colossal Bowl festivities. It's a little unfortunate, since the home towne team has been winning almost every Super Bowl since I left; I never really had the chance to brag to the level that winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 years deserves. And last year my new "regional" team was in the Super Bowl, so at least I had that going for me.

This year, I could have cared less about the Super Bowl, so it was lucky that I got invited to a party; otherwise I probably wouldn't have watched the game at all (well, that's not totally true). Although there was no early morning touch-football game or half-time free throw shooting contest, it was a good time overall.

And as the centerpiece to the event, the hosts did this: Oink! Oink!

[Warning: the pictures involve a whole cute little pig and its intestines, so if you freak out when you see whole pigs being roasted (read: DM^2) you may not enjoy them so much]

I wasn't involved in the roasting - the hosts took care of all that - but I did get in there for the carving, as you can see in the photos.

And boy is roast pig delicious - especially the cheeks!

A Seinfeld Moment

You know what the problem with using Staples as your office supply company is? All the boxes are labeled Staples. Even the ones for paper clips. Or binder clips. Or pencils. All the Staples boxes make it hard when all you need is staples.

I spent 5 minutes looking for staples yesterday. I almost pulled down the shelving unit. I don't have anger management issues.

we're going on vacation!!!

Okay, so the title is a bit of an overstatement. Nonetheless, our impending move and trip inch closer.

Mom and Sissy have purchased their plane tickets! Hooray!

The plan:
Peter and Kimberly fly off to a fabulous vacation (in lovely Europe) and are joined by Mom and Sissy, taking their first intercontinental flight. We spend 2 fabulous weeks together, meeting in-laws, eating great food, and visiting old, old places. (Remember that that our dear state only became a state in 1859). For Mom's recent birthday, we arranged to stay at an agriturismo (like a farm plus B & B) and signed up for cooking classes! Should be fun!

Then we escort Mom and Sissy back to the airport and head off on our own great adventure. Current plans are rather vague, including visiting southern Italy, Spain, hopefully Portugal, and a flight out of Germany. Our plans are still evolving- so if you have any recommendations please feel free to leave them in the comments. It'll be my first trip to Europe (although Peter's an old hand at this) so I'm interested in all sorts of ideas.

My list of must dos
1. ride on public transport- I meet the neatest people and so enjoy the experience with culture when you're crammed together with the "locals"
2. visit grocery stores- so eye-opening!
3. see old stuff (yeah, I know this is on everyone's list) Particularly... old homes, old ruins, and countryside.
4. just hang out- it's so easy to get caught up with a list of "must dos" while traveling. I want to stop and just have a coffee or people watch. Hang out in a square and write. Visit with people. Make a fool of myself in foreign languages.

so that's what I have right now... let me know what I'm missing!

I get the Best Mail

Now I don't like to name drop, but look who has personally invited me to visit Iowa:
Click to enlarge

A personal letter from the mayor, pretty sharp. And I get to visit the public gardens for free.

Someone obviously wants me very much.

Cloned!

This came for me in today's mail.

Click to enlarge.

I think our mailman is messing with me.

Sometimes, It Ain't So Bad

Sometimes my job is pretty cool, especially when I get to go on rooftops of tall buildings. The subject building is 12 stories tall, located right on the major east-west thoroughfare on the edge of the coolest, hippest part of the City, the Pearl. It was built 2 years ago and won a bunch of awards for Architectural Design, Sustainable Green Architecture, etc, etc, etc. Its a jewel in the City's affordable housing crown.

This building contains over 150 affordable housing units; I think technically, they're apartments, but it seemed more like a half way house. There were some sketchy characters walking around.

The marketing plan for our current client - let's call them "Captain Hook" - is to focus on low-income and minority users; they're not shy about letting people know that this is their plan. We didn't know it, but we were walking right into the middle of Captain Hook's target market.

A few of the guys had on their Captain Hook jackets, showing off what I have to admit is a pretty cool logo. It started while we were gathering outside.

"Captain Hook! I just got you and I love you." Cool.

"Captain Hook! What are you doing here? I love you." We're putting up a new site. Thanks.

"Captain Hook! I should advertise for you. You guys sell to poor folks - I know lots of people." OK, that's a little weird. And yes, that is our target market, in fewer words than we prefer. Thanks though. [Half of our group had to ride in an elevator with this guy - I wish I could have squeezed on that car just to hear his advertising pitch and to see the looks on the faces of my team members.]

"Captain Hook! No credit check, so no one knows if I'm using a fake name. This is the best thing to happen to my business since the pager." Target market reached.

Anyways, back to the original reason for this story: building rooftops. Its been snowy here, so the views weren't the best on this day. But its always fun to be up there and pretend you're cool because you can look down on people.

That's a bridge in the not so distant distance.

But there was this!

Large, antenna array.

I've heard that those are the microwave links for all telephones from Portland to Seattle and San Fransisco and Boise and the rest of the world - it's how we stay connected here in Bridge City. It is shooting out thousands upon thousands of Watts at all times of the day. I was standing almost directly in front of it for, I don't know, 30 minutes. If I had a canary (or a radar badge), it would have been chirping out of control. And now I can't have kids - sorry wife :(

On a lighter note, our architect got locked in a stairwell and couldn't get out: the door at the top and to all the hallways were locked, the door at the bottom alarmed. He banged on a door for 30 minutes until one of the "residents" opened the locked door for him. If I were him, I don't know if I would be more annoyed that: (a) none of my "team" members noticed I was missing for 30 minutes or (b) my fate lay in the hands of a sketchy character in a sketchy building in a locked stairwell. He was surprisingly chipper for the experience. And he did say he found a bottle of wine in the staircase. I don't thik he took it, although I don't know why.

It's melting....

It's almost all gone now, the snow. Sigh. We actually had to go to work yesterday and today. Oh well. Peter says that it's good the snow's melting; that at least it hasn't had a chance to turn brown. I guess he's right, but it sure was fun!

At least it's not cold anymore!



[01.20.07 1:57 p.m. As a follow up to the melt, here's Kimberly's snow angel, trying to hold on for a little while longer - PEter]

It's still here!!! (and we are too)

Well, what started out as a freak snow flurry has shut down an entire city. Peter already has cabin fever. Sigh. He's roaming around the house, proclaiming "red rum" and laughing manically. What have I gotten myself into?

anyway, back to my description...

It's beautiful, the snow. We walked to New Seasons for lunch supplies and saw all sorts of cool snow men and snow sculptures, people outside playing, cross-country skiers, and kids on sleds. One creative pair of parents were pulling their tot in a laundry basket!

The buses are running, kinda. The roads around here are still icy and snowy, but the freeways look relatively clear. The weather folk are predicting freezing rain tonight and a low of 29, so that means that the streets might entirely ice over. Will tomorrow be another snow day?

I hear that this is nothing compared to Iowa. I'm scared.

We're Going Live

So this is a blog that Peter and Kimberly have started.

The main point of this blog is to inform our families and friends of what we're up to, since in a few months we'll be in the middle of the country, over a thousand miles from anyone we know; we'll be like fish out of water in the middle, since there's no water in Iowa. Until then, we'll post boring anecdotes about us and our cat here in Portland; mostly, we'll be posting about our fish tank community, because really, we're boring. Eventually, the complementary multimedia will be complementary to the blog, by definition; right now, there isn't anything on those other sites.

I wouldn't expect to find anything funny, or life-altering, or even interesting on this blog if you don't know us, or even if you do. In fact, I'm still a little ambivalent when it comes to the internets and the weblogging. Although, I am a big fan of the Googles, mostly for the maps (that's a joke - a free shout out to the first person who can identify it).

The first public post is right below, down there, about the snow. We've been practice posting in private - if you want to read those posts, you can access them on the right through the archives.

We hope you don't hate it.

Not Supposed to Happen

In case you were wondering, it NEVER snows in Portland, which is why today was so amazing. Apparently, at 5 am, there was nothing on the ground (I wouldn't know, I was sleeping). In fact, we watched the weather report last night, something we rarely do, and the weatherman said maybe some flurries, but that was all.

So it wasn't surprising that when we woke up this morning, Kimberly's exclamation of "There's snow on the ground! Alot! And it's still snowing!!!" were skeptically received. Then, I looked, and Holy Crap! it was snowing.

I need to head north and cross the Columbia to get to work, so I went back to bed; it just wasn't happening, as The Couv is usually worse than Portland and I didn't want to get stuck up there.

However, Kimberly had quite the adventure trying to get to work; from the bus, she watched several accidents and numerous near misses, including the joy of watching the bus you were just on sliding backwards off the bridge. She came home eventually and we went out to enjoy the snow.

Kimberly is giddy as a 8 year old; like I said, it never snows out here. She's making snow balls, snowmen, snow angels, snow-_____ (fill in your own noun) and drinking lots of hot cocoa.

The snow is generally wrecking havoc on the city (click here and watch the 15-car collision), shutting most everything down. They don't have snow-plows out here and they don't have salt/sand trucks, because it never snows out here. The news people say it's going to melt a little, then freeze over night again, meaning tomorrow will be even more fun. I think I'll just turn off my alarm tonight.

It's the Final Countdown

The wheels have been set in motion for our imminent departure from Oregon.

We still need to figure out what to do with Miles.

And us, too.

5 months. Let the countdown begin...

what the hell is wrong with our fish tank?

As Kimbely eloquently wrote, 2007 is starting off much better than our somewhat tumultuous '06 (ok, so it wasn't so much tumultuous as downright crappy). One of the minor inconveniences we experienced in '06 was the rapid demise of our fish tank "community." Our tank was struggling along with 2 albino cory catfish, a neon tetra or 2, a barb thing, a clown loach, a rubber lip pleco, a couple random shrimp that we got with our live plants, and Mortimer, our african-dwarf frog. And to top it off, the water was white and cloudy and we couldn't figure out why.

Needless to say, it was a little depressing.

So, it being 2007 and a new year and all, we decided to repopulate, cloudy water be damned. We went to the store; we got us 5 new neon tetras and 2 new angel fish. We came home and dutifully floated them in the tank until they were acclimated.

And then we noticed old rubber lips was missing. Not dead and floating on the top, or in a plant, or even bits of him in the filter. Just gone. A bad sign, it I ever there was one. And if there's one thing Mr Smith taught me in Latin, it's that you can't avoid an oracle (see: Oedipus Rex for example A, and the Trojan War for Exhibit B, and yes, I know those are Greek myths, but the Romans stole everything else from Greece, so).

We released the 2 angels and the tetras, and everyone is looking good. A week goes by and everyone seems to be fitting in well: the angels are taking over the top of the tank, the tetras are settling into the middle bottom, the corys take the bottom, and the loach is in the filter. Even the tank is clearing up.

Then the problems began. The angel fish were doing back flips and spins. Although these are natural movements for the Millennium Falcon or even a Metzger, this is not a natural fish swimming style. First, the white one with the black stripes went: it was sad seeing her go down the drain the same way she spent her final hours. Then the black angel, with the white tiger stripes: he went more peacefully as we slept.

We've decided we're bad fish parents and are holding off on getting anymore large fish. It's too taxing, both mentally and financially. Maybe someday we'll try again, but more than likely we'll pawn the whole community off on someone in the near future as we prepare our move. After all, there is no water in the middle.

new beginnings

Well, it's 2007. A new year. A good year? Who knows, but I'm hoping for no major suprises this year.

New Year's Eve is a quiet holiday at our house, we just can't seem to enjoy a big party or celebration. We ran a bunch of errands, visited with my Mom and Sis, and had a quiet night. It was hard wishing the old year goodbye- 2006 has kept us rolling from one moment of chaos to the next. But here we are... we made it through, and we're not even sick of each other yet!

look at this list...

In 2006 ...
I applied for Ph D programs
my dad went into the hospital with mysterious lung ailment
dad got diagnosed with cancer
we worked on beach house and started marjor construction
dad started chemo
I had phone interview with State University in the Middle (SUM)
started caring for my dad
got acceptance letter from SUM (including $$!)
dad got real sick and we started to realize it wasn't going to get better
dad stopped chemo
went to BIL and SIL's wedding in foreign country
Dad died
deferred graduate program
deferred graduation from coast university
freaked out a bunch
adopted Miles
my advisor retired from WCU
visited East Coast to help Mom-in-law prepare her house for sale
started job at west coast university
celebrated first anniversary of marriage
had first holiday since dad died
skipped Christmas


that's a pretty stressful list....

miles for Miles

Well, Miles is finally living up to his name with a recent roadtrip to Albany.

Miles headed out on his inaugural road trip accompanied by Kimberly and Sissy. The whole crew drove down to Albany to visit Grandmama. Miles is undecided about road travel. Although he likes getting to hang out with people, the whole moving vehicle thing seems slightly overrated. His preferred place seems to be wedged under the driver's seat...

But, at least he was relatively quiet, things are looking up for the cross-country drive!

AND, more importantly, he was a smash hit with Grandmama. She offered to keep him, suggested that we forget to take him home, and generally gushed about how fabulous he is. How right she is!

Well, there are a lot more miles in Miles' future.